Corporations have been making money just fine—but economic growth has been slow, productivity stagnant, and job creation limited. What gives?
The following figure, which comes from a Brookings report on the negative consequences of the financialization of the U.S. economy, provides one explanation. It shows that corporations increasingly prefer to fund dividends and stock purchases rather than productive investment. http://blogs.lclark.edu/hart-landsberg/
This is why we must support capitalist investment, bail out corporations and keep taxes low. It creates JOBS!
Lois
Of course you mean that sarcastically. It doesn’t create jobs, it, at best, maintains jobs and makes corporations more profitable, and the workers more productive, whilst the workers, themselves, while working harder, see little, if any, of the profits that they are involved in generating.
It is an ultimately unsustainable model. Hence we see the rise in popularity of a self-proclaimed Socialist, as a candidate for POTUS.
Things would have to get much worse for a self-proclaimed Socialist to become POTUS, and even then, it would not be assured, as the American people may not understand the problem. But, for sure, if our political and economic leaders do not effectively address this problem (of increasing wealth and income disparity) things will eventually get much worse.
Of course you mean that sarcastically. It doesn't create jobs, it, at best, maintains jobs and makes corporations more profitable, and the workers more productive, whilst the workers, themselves, while working harder, see little, if any, of the profits that they are involved in generating.
It is an ultimately unsustainable model. Hence we see the rise in popularity of a self-proclaimed Socialist, as a candidate for POTUS.
Things would have to get much worse for a self-proclaimed Socialist to become POTUS, and even then, it would not be assured, as the American people may not understand the problem. But, for sure, if our political and economic leaders do not effectively address this problem (of increasing wealth and income disparity) things will eventually get much worse.
I was mimicking the attitude of the capitalist types and far too many Republicans who don't have a clue as to how economics and human nature work.
Lois
Of course you mean that sarcastically. It doesn't create jobs, it, at best, maintains jobs and makes corporations more profitable, and the workers more productive, whilst the workers, themselves, while working harder, see little, if any, of the profits that they are involved in generating.
It is an ultimately unsustainable model. Hence we see the rise in popularity of a self-proclaimed Socialist, as a candidate for POTUS.
Things would have to get much worse for a self-proclaimed Socialist to become POTUS, and even then, it would not be assured, as the American people may not understand the problem. But, for sure, if our political and economic leaders do not effectively address this problem (of increasing wealth and income disparity) things will eventually get much worse.
I was mimicking the attitude of the capitalist types and far too many Republicans who don't have a clue as to how economics and human nature work.
Lois
Of course, and I was stating what I thought was important to draw from the information in the site you referenced.
Of course you mean that sarcastically. It doesn't create jobs, it, at best, maintains jobs and makes corporations more profitable, and the workers more productive, whilst the workers, themselves, while working harder, see little, if any, of the profits that they are involved in generating.
It is an ultimately unsustainable model. Hence we see the rise in popularity of a self-proclaimed Socialist, as a candidate for POTUS.
Things would have to get much worse for a self-proclaimed Socialist to become POTUS, and even then, it would not be assured, as the American people may not understand the problem. But, for sure, if our political and economic leaders do not effectively address this problem (of increasing wealth and income disparity) things will eventually get much worse.
I was mimicking the attitude of the capitalist types and far too many Republicans who don't have a clue as to how economics and human nature work.
Lois
Of course, and I was stating what I thought was important to draw from the information in the site you referenced.
Ok, we agree. ;)
Lois
I agree many Republicans are out of touch and don’t have a clue about much of anything, but I’ve also started to think that Capitalism is another form of government. It does seem to control many things, but job creation isn’t one of them- or at least employers are not the job creators.
I agree many Republicans are out of touch and don't have a clue about much of anything, but I've also started to think that Capitalism is another form of government. It does seem to control many things, but job creation isn't one of them- or at least employers are not the job creators.
We live in a plutocracy and it will get worse if Republicans get elected.
Lois
I agree many Republicans are out of touch and don't have a clue about much of anything, but I've also started to think that Capitalism is another form of government. It does seem to control many things, but job creation isn't one of them- or at least employers are not the job creators.
We live in a plutocracy and it will get worse if Republicans get elected.
Lois
I can't argue with that nor do I disagree.
I agree many Republicans are out of touch and don't have a clue about much of anything, but I've also started to think that Capitalism is another form of government. It does seem to control many things, but job creation isn't one of them- or at least employers are not the job creators.
I think of Capitalism as a disease. Honestly. Think of it as a disease as you watch the news for example. So many things reported as almost normal will start to be obvious symptoms of the disease. And worse yet, we've been led to believe that the disease is actually a virtue.
I agree many Republicans are out of touch and don't have a clue about much of anything, but I've also started to think that Capitalism is another form of government. It does seem to control many things, but job creation isn't one of them- or at least employers are not the job creators.
I think of Capitalism as a disease. Honestly. Think of it as a disease as you watch the news for example. So many things reported as almost normal will start to be obvious symptoms of the disease. And worse yet, we've been led to believe that the disease is actually a virtue.
I don't disagree with it being a disease either. The American Indians (Sioux) call it Wasichu.
http://dickshovel.com/wasichu.html
Excerpt from the page: "It was Wasi'chu, which means "takes the fat," or "greedy person." Within the modern Indian movement, Wasi'chu has come to mean those corporations and individuals, with their governmental accomplices, which continue to covet Indian lives, land, and resources for private profit."
It even calls it a sickness, an incurable contagious disease too.
Take this for what it’s worth. What I learned about the system. When I was growing up the talk and fears were always about the depressions. If there was a depression in California, it would ripple across the United States. California would come out of the depression in a couple of years, but the Midwest and the rural areas might take ten years or longer. The economist convinced the government that having a power military was no good without a powerful economy. A problem Russia faced. Therefore the economy needed to be directly connected to the military. And this worked because the military had college educated economist that were controlling and rebuilding the economies of countries all around the world based upon the Dawes Plan, or sometimes call the Marshall Plan.
The gas petal of the economy is the money being pumped into the system. The system is simple. When the economy is bad, just pour money into the economy. And just keep pouring money until the people respond and stop saving and start spending. The only down side to the program is that it creates inflation.
Now the government found that building a bridge or fixing a road, while being a good idea did not move the funds fast enough. But what did work was the defense industry. No auditing, regulations and no accountability. And could be done under the secret vail of defense. So the country is divided up into seven economic zones and controlled by defense spending in each of those zones. The government justified this by putting the economy as part of our defense strategy. An example is most big airplanes built up to the triple seven was paid for and part of the military. Then the military turn the tooling over to the manufactures to build commercial planes.
The wall went down, and we had become so military powerful that we had no enemies that could take us on. The public was complaining about the defense spending. The government started looking for another system to replace the defense spending for controlling the economy. We trained and outfitted a lot of troops around the world that are now call terrorists. And we expanded the DEA to a worldwide operation. Then we found the kicker, Homeland Security. We have nineteen departments that are very large and employee a lot of people. Seventeen of those departments the public has no idea about what there are named or what they do.
Point being, when was the last time you heard the president or congressman talk about any of these departments or programs with secret budgets and operations? The economy of this county and the world for that matter is not a Republican or Democratic issue and will not be affect in any major way by the elections. What matters is the public’s perception of how the public thinks this all works and not how it really works. Eric Snowden is what these departments fear. The environmental issues will just become another tool for the system that keep food on the table and gas in the tanks.
Now what we all should be worrying about is that, this Dawes system was just used and it didn’t work the way it was supposed to with The Recovery Act, or Stimulus as we know it. And it did not work in Europe with Greece. And the reason I bet is because it has been shown not work well with governments with cast systems.
Lois sorry for the long text.
In fact, Capitalismis no more a disease than any other form of government economy… It’s a type of economic philosophy, that’s all. It has its flaws and it has strengths. I am of the opinion that capitalism is the best way to create a stable ecomomy but it needs social policies to overcome the damage it is bound to do to populations. Problems arise when capitalists won’t allow social programs or keep them weak. It’s similar to a socialist society that won’t allow private business and investment. Both are doomed to failure. Pick your poison. The answer is a balanced economy and the will to keep it balanced instead of an absolutist attitude, which is where the disease lies.
Lois
I agree many Republicans are out of touch and don't have a clue about much of anything, but I've also started to think that Capitalism is another form of government. It does seem to control many things, but job creation isn't one of them- or at least employers are not the job creators.
I think of Capitalism as a disease. Honestly. Think of it as a disease as you watch the news for example. So many things reported as almost normal will start to be obvious symptoms of the disease. And worse yet, we've been led to believe that the disease is actually a virtue.
I don't disagree with it being a disease either. The American Indians (Sioux) call it Wasichu.
http://dickshovel.com/wasichu.html
Excerpt from the page: "It was Wasi'chu, which means "takes the fat," or "greedy person." Within the modern Indian movement, Wasi'chu has come to mean those corporations and individuals, with their governmental accomplices, which continue to covet Indian lives, land, and resources for private profit."
It even calls it a sickness, an incurable contagious disease too.
I look at it more like koyanisqatsi (sp?) -- life out of balance. Capitalism is great if properly controlled. But it can be a sick m----- f---ing beast if not properly contained.
I agree many Republicans are out of touch and don't have a clue about much of anything, but I've also started to think that Capitalism is another form of government. It does seem to control many things, but job creation isn't one of them- or at least employers are not the job creators.
I think of Capitalism as a disease. Honestly. Think of it as a disease as you watch the news for example. So many things reported as almost normal will start to be obvious symptoms of the disease. And worse yet, we've been led to believe that the disease is actually a virtue.
I don't disagree with it being a disease either. The American Indians (Sioux) call it Wasichu.
http://dickshovel.com/wasichu.html
Excerpt from the page: "It was Wasi'chu, which means "takes the fat," or "greedy person." Within the modern Indian movement, Wasi'chu has come to mean those corporations and individuals, with their governmental accomplices, which continue to covet Indian lives, land, and resources for private profit."
It even calls it a sickness, an incurable contagious disease too.
I look at it more like koyanisqatsi (sp?) -- life out of balance. Capitalism is great if properly controlled. But it can be a sick m----- f---ing beast if not properly contained.
It's not life that is out of balance, but rather humans out of balance, sick with greed. These particular humans worship the "almighty dollar".
Take this for what it’s worth. What I learned about the system. When I was growing up the talk and fears were always about the depressions. If there was a depression in California, it would ripple across the United States. California would come out of the depression in a couple of years, but the Midwest and the rural areas might take ten years or longer. The economist convinced the government that having a power military was no good without a powerful economy. A problem Russia faced. Therefore the economy needed to be directly connected to the military. And this worked because the military had college educated economist that were controlling and rebuilding the economies of countries all around the world based upon the Dawes Plan, or sometimes call the Marshall Plan.
The gas petal of the economy is the money being pumped into the system. The system is simple. When the economy is bad, just pour money into the economy. And just keep pouring money until the people respond and stop saving and start spending. The only down side to the program is that it creates inflation.
Now the government found that building a bridge or fixing a road, while being a good idea did not move the funds fast enough. But what did work was the defense industry. No auditing, regulations and no accountability. And could be done under the secret vail of defense. So the country is divided up into seven economic zones and controlled by defense spending in each of those zones. The government justified this by putting the economy as part of our defense strategy. An example is most big airplanes built up to the triple seven was paid for and part of the military. Then the military turn the tooling over to the manufactures to build commercial planes.
The wall went down, and we had become so military powerful that we had no enemies that could take us on. The public was complaining about the defense spending. The government started looking for another system to replace the defense spending for controlling the economy. We trained and outfitted a lot of troops around the world that are now call terrorists. And we expanded the DEA to a worldwide operation. Then we found the kicker, Homeland Security. We have nineteen departments that are very large and employee a lot of people. Seventeen of those departments the public has no idea about what there are named or what they do.
Point being, when was the last time you heard the president or congressman talk about any of these departments or programs with secret budgets and operations? The economy of this county and the world for that matter is not a Republican or Democratic issue and will not be affect in any major way by the elections. What matters is the public’s perception of how the public thinks this all works and not how it really works. Eric Snowden is what these departments fear. The environmental issues will just become another tool for the system that keep food on the table and gas in the tanks.
Now what we all should be worrying about is that, this Dawes system was just used and it didn’t work the way it was supposed to with The Recovery Act, or Stimulus as we know it. And it did not work in Europe with Greece. And the reason I bet is because it has been shown not work well with governments with cast systems.
Lois sorry for the long text.
Excellent post. I think you describe what I've tried to but I've only ever talked extreme high level. You've provided some of the nuts and bolts. The powers that be don't give a rat's ass about Dem or Repub. They'll allow whoever gets elected/selected to do a few things to keep up the illusion of Democracy and political parties. But for the most part it's business as usual.
It's not life that is out of balance, but rather humans out of balance, sick with greed. These particular humans worship the "almighty dollar".
You hit the nail on the head. Greed is the problem and always has been a problem. In the longest operating empire known, Egypt, it was the Pharaoh’s job to combat greed. Greed would cause the earth to become unbalanced. The Pharaoh would redistribute the wealth and bring the earth back into balance. The Pharaoh’s had to do this on the average of every twenty years. Or about once every generation.
It's not life that is out of balance, but rather humans out of balance, sick with greed. These particular humans worship the "almighty dollar".
You hit the nail on the head. Greed is the problem and always has been a problem. In the longest operating empire known, Egypt, it was the Pharaoh’s job to combat greed. Greed would cause the earth to become unbalanced. The Pharaoh would redistribute the wealth and bring the earth back into balance. The Pharaoh’s had to do this on the average of every twenty years. Or about once every generation.
Speaking of the earth... Climate Change, when at it's worst (now) also has the sickness of greed at it's worse too.
Speaking of the earth... Climate Change, when at it's worst (now) also has the sickness of greed at it's worse too.
Be careful talking about greed “green cats" and Climate Change in this forum. I tried to bring that point up and never got pass being called a Climate Change denier.
Speaking of the earth... Climate Change, when at it's worst (now) also has the sickness of greed at it's worse too.
Be careful talking about greed “green cats" and Climate Change in this forum. I tried to bring that point up and never got pass being called a Climate Change denier.
Never got passed being called a Climate Change denier? I recall in my last, recent reply to you on the topic, saying that "at least you seem to have accepted that anthropogenic global warming exists (and to have moved on to considering solutions)...
Now if we accept Mriana's proposition that human greed is a "sickness" in our society, and is at the core of Climate Change (and this does seem to me to be a reasonable proposition) we might want to move on from the description of the problem and begin the process of determining what to do about the problem, i.e., which in this case, is human greed.
I once wrote a poem in which one of the lines was "why does Man pollute the Land? Maybe Nature littered Man." (note that the word "littered" has two meanings)
So if this "sickness" (human greed) is an intrinsic part of our nature, the appropriate question, seems to me to be, "How do we effectively address it?"
Speaking of the earth... Climate Change, when at it's worst (now) also has the sickness of greed at it's worse too.
Be careful talking about greed “green cats" and Climate Change in this forum. I tried to bring that point up and never got pass being called a Climate Change denier.
I'm not denying climate change. I'm saying that greed is part of what causes it or rather, if not for greed, we wouldn't have big problems with CO2, corporations polluting, over use of A/Cs, and other things that contribute to Climate Change, which are all related to greed. Greed is at the bottom of it all.